Friday the 13th
by Oh-no-she-di'ent
Summary: It's Friday the 13th. Let's all see how Lorelai's luck holds up. Complete mini sectional oneshot.


**Disclaimer: **This is just me having fun, staying broke, and generally not getting anything from this other than reviews and self-satisfaction.

**_Author's Note:_** Well, I'm back. I've written 12 stories, so this makes my...come on, the whole class now...that's right, my 13th. Yaaaay! I realized about 2 wks ago that Friday the 13th was coming up, and I was all sad b/c, let's be honest, the date sucks. When I sat down in front of old trusty laptopie, I hit the site, and an idea popped into my head. I said _'self...'_ My self answered _'what now?!'_ I didn't particularly care for the tone, but I continued on. I said _'Self, why don't you make your 13th story **on **Friday the 13th **about** Friday the 13th and call it something really original **like** Friday the 13th?'_ My self apologized for the gruff tone and agreed that that idea was pretty darn good.

Now, between that time and around last Sunday when I wrote this, I wrote another story, and it's currently all finished and was ready to post b4 I even started this. But, if I posted it, it would have made this story the 14th, and the purpose would have been somewhat defeated. So, I posted this today, and I'll post the other in a few days or so. I don't want you guys to get too sick of me. Then, you might throw stones, and just in case you all don't know, stones hurt. I have a big scar on my eyebrow from the eighth grade that says I can speak on it. But, I found out the thrower liked me, and that was his way of telling me...by making blood drip into eye. Ain't love grand? Anyway, enjoy everybody. And, step lightly b/c today's Friday the 13th...

**Friday the 13th**

"Mom, get up. School, work, life," Rory said shoving at Lorelai's lifeless body.

"Go away, Demon child," Lorelai muttered from underneath the thick covers.

Rory placed her hands on her hips. "You have to get up. I have to be to school in..." She looked over at the clock, "One hour and you're not even showered for work. Get up!"

Lorelai jerked the blanket from over her head. "You remember the rhyme about the wheels and the bus and how they go spinning about?" She asked looking at Rory through squinted eyes, "Well art imitates life, and life imita--whatever--take the bus!" She said, growing frustrated through her intended comment and just making a leap toward her point. She pulled the covers back up.

"Okay, you leave me no choice." Rory went to the end of the bed and snatched the entire cover off of the bed leaving Lorelai to squirm around helplessly.

She finally stopped and lay flat on her back, arms at her sides. "I hate you," she deadpanned.

"That's fine. Hate me in the car." She walked toward the door, and her mom still lay in bed unmoving. "There's a thermos of coffee in the cup holder waiting on the driver," she yelled over her shoulder.

"I'm up," Lorelai said quickly, rushing out of bed.

-X-

"Mmmmm, me like coffee," Lorelai breathed out as she brought the thermos from her lips. She looked over at Rory in the passenger seat as they drove along. She shook her head and looked back to the road. "You are so sad," she said laughing slightly.

"Oh, shut up."

"How can someone be so squeamish over a stupid day of the year? Especially someone as smart as you."

"It's Friday the 13th. It's not a stupid day, Mom. This day has history, unlike your 'First of the Month Rain' terror. Talk about stupid?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Hey, rain on the first day of the month just spells disaster for the rest of it. I've experienced it many times over. You, on the other hand, have never had a bad Friday the 13th. Yet you refuse to do anything that you feel may lead to bad luck, i.e. take the bus."

"Excuse me, but was it not you who took me to see _'Speed'_?" Lorelai smiled. "No thank you. I'll take my chances with the jeep."

She laughed. "I have told you a million times before, Rory, you can always just stay home if you feel so strongly about it."

"And miss school?" Rory asked with wide eyes.

Lorelai shook her head. "You just _broke_ the mold, didn't you?" She asked, inwardly proud as always.

Rory sighed. "Look, I know it's a little inconvenient now. In years past, I attended Stars Hollow High, and all you had to worry about was the occasional call to get me out of doing a potentially bone breaking routine for gym or a request that I take a test on an earlier date than Friday the 13th, but take solace in knowing that this is the last year of Chilton. Just relax and enjoy it."

Lorelai smiled. "But, it's just a da--"

"Shut up," Rory said quickly while smiling.

"Okay, but if you--"

"Shut up."

"How much wood could a woodchuck chu--"

"Shut up."

They both laughed and fell into silence for the remainder of the ride.

-X-

Lorelai stepped out of her jeep and looked dumbly at the flat tire. "I knew you never liked me," she said to it. "You were just waiting for this moment, weren't you?" She looked around at the empty road before flipping open her cell phone and dialing her speed dial for AAA. "Well, little do you know, preparation always wins over vindictiveness."

She had dropped Rory off at school, and had wobbled to a stop on the side of the road ten minutes later.

After giving the lady on the phone all the information she needed, she got back in the jeep and turned on the radio to occupy her time.

Fifty minutes passed, and she found herself looking around anxiously for the tow truck. She flipped off the radio. "Stupid tire," she said closing her eyes. "Stupid slow tow truck." She opened the door and stepped outside, and as soon as she had her other foot on the ground, her foot twisted as her heel popped off on the gravelly roadside.

She looked down at her foot. "You have got to be kidding me," she said evenly. A crackle of thunder sounded above. She looked upward, and her eyes shifted around, hoping she'd mis-heard something. "That better be your work, Bush," she said quietly. At that moment, for Lorelai, that was a hopeful alternative to there being rain. No rain is what the forecaster had said, and her choice of dress showed complete faith in that forecast.

The tow truck pulled up behind her jeep, and she looked at it, her arms folded over her chest as she leaned against her jeep. A middle-aged man stepped out and walked over toward where she stood. "Looks like I'm just in time," he said with a crooked smile on his sweaty face.

_'Yeah, well looks can deceive. I called an hour ago, Einstein,'_ she thought while looking at him hard. "Yeah, just in time," she stated anyway as she directed him toward the tire.

-X-

Sookie began to laugh. "What, you don't believe in umbrellas?" She asked as she looked at Lorelai's drenched frame standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Coffee," Lorelai managed to say before removing a wet strand of hair from her eyes and limping sluggishly toward the inn's coffee machine. She shakily grabbed a mug and filled it with the weak liquid. She took a sip and frowned. "Where's Michel?" She asked Sookie, trying to hold onto her temper.

"He called and said he'd be in around noon. Said something about Papa needing a vet." Sookie stopped her preparation of the day's special and looked at Lorelai. "Where've you been?" She asked looking her up and down.

Lorelai took another sip of the coffee before setting it down. "Hell," she replied.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly as she finally began to take in the extent of the sight before her.

Lorelai sighed. "Flat tire, broken..." She reached down and snatched off her shoe, "...heel, freakin' out-of-nowhere rain storm, unzippable...damn plastic window..." Her gaze dropped and she smiled sarcastically as she lifted her leg to Sookie. "Oh, and looky here--a run in my hose." Her smile dropped instantly. "Perfect," she said as she picked up her mug and poured the rest of the liquid down the drain.

"Honey, you must feel awful," Sookie responded. "Do you want to head home?"

"No, I have to go cover the front," Lorelai said pitifully as she staggered toward the door with only one shoe on.

Sookie yelled after her, "Lorelai, we can han--"

"I'll be at the desk if you need anything, Sook," Lorelai interrupted before pushing open the door and disappearing behind it.

Sookie looked down at the trail of water that Lorelai had left behind and shook her head as she went back to work.

-X-

"Good Morning, Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking."

"Lorelai?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom. That's why I answered the phone, _Lorelai speaking_."

Lorelai could almost see Emily pursing her lips on the other end when a pause followed. "How very satisfying to know you're still _you_ even when working," she replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, well I took the_ 'Don't ever change' _that Kelly Potspa wrote in my yearbook very seriously. To what do I owe this phone call?" She responded quickly.

"I was just calling to inform you that my DAR meeting is back on."

Lorelai's eyes widened as she flipped open the inn's large planner book in front of her. She confirmed what she already knew to be true. "You canceled that! You can't just uncancel a cancel."

"And, why is that?" Emily asked smartly.

Lorelai began to stutter. "Because-wh--when you--"

"Listen, Lorelai, things changed, so the meeting is back on. All I'm asking you to do is take your pen or whatever it is you use and put the meeting back on the event list."

Lorelai looked down at the still free date. "How do you know we haven't booked something else already?" She asked.

"Have you?"

"Well..."

"Good, I'll see you on Wednesday. One-thirty sharp. Oh, and of course, tonight. Remember, you guys have to be here after Rory gets out of school."

"I know, Mom. I remember."

She still went on. "Because you left extremely early last Friday with an excuse we both knew was--"

"I remember, Mom. I'm not disputing," Lorelai said calmly as she rubbed her temple.

"Okay, then. Bye, Lorelai," she said before hanging the phone up.

Lorelai clicked off the cordless and set it down before leaning depressingly on the desk. She picked up her pen and wrote her mom's meeting back in while mumbling incoherently to no one.

-X-

Lorelai lay on the floor. She could have gotten up quickly, but she didn't. Instead, she just lay there, her hands still flat on the surface where she'd used them to break her fall. Her head hung to the floor expressionlessly. She was beyond shock, beyond embarrassment, even though a dozen people sat in the diner and had seen her hit the floor. The door swung back and knocked her on her arm. It seemed like it was minutes laced together that she lay there but was actually a few seconds.

Luke came to her aid, along with two other customers as many others stood from their seats, ready to act should she require additional assistance. The three of them pulled her to her feet.

She managed a smile at Luke and the two customers, one Morey. "Thanks," she said.

Babbette walked over looking down at Lorelai's feet. "Honey, you know you only got a half a shoe?"

Lorelai glanced down at her foot. "The salesman told me this was the new style. Am I a season ahead?" She asked with a small polite smile. The diner was quiet and laughter filled the space as everyone slowly returned attention back to their meals and conversations.

She spoke to Babbette a minute longer before walking over to the counter. Luke had returned to that area already. "Are you okay?" He finally got the chance to ask.

"Oh, yeah, I always wanted to know how linoleum tasted. Just like chicken," she said dryly.

Because of the lack of heel, she'd been forced to walk at an angle. That proved to be a bad idea when her foot had slid across the step causing her to enter the diner face first. She took off the offending shoe and set _it _and the broken heel on the countertop. "Can I get some coffee?" She asked as she pushed at her half-dried hair. At least the rain had stopped.

"Decaf?"

"Luke, please just get me a cup of coffee. Regular, big cup, no lecture. I beg you," she said exhaustedly.

"No, we're out of regular. I forgot to order more, and I bought and used all Doose's has on the morning rush so there's nothing but decaf."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "If this is your idea of a joke..."

"It's not."

She looked down the counter at the gentleman beside her. "What are you drinking, sir?" She asked noticing his mug.

"Decaf coffee."

She sighed sadly before asking the lady on her other side the same question and getting the same answer.

She turned on her stool to the main area. "Excuse me, coffee drinkers," she said loudly. Everyone stopped and looked at Lorelai. "What kind of coffee are you all drinking?"

There was a brief confused silence before everyone with coffee replied, "Decaf."

She let out a large dejected breath before replying with a wave, "Okay, thank you." Conversation resumed. She turned back to Luke looking like she would slump to the floor at any moment. She looked at him but seemed to look through him. A playful sob came from her mouth, but she stopped seconds into it since it had very real potential of turning authentic. "Is this--is this," she breathed heavily, "Is this Armageddon?" She asked him. He said nothing as he looked at her with worry. "This is too much," she muttered as she stood up in a daze and began to walk toward the door.

A little boy turned quickly in front of where she was walking causing his cup of soda to go spilling all over the front of her blouse. Lorelai looked down and stared at the spot just as the boy's mother stood up and pulled him into a chair. She looked at Lorelai. "Ma'am, I am so sorry," she said, holding napkins in her hand but being hesitant to start wiping a complete stranger.

Lorelai turned slightly to look at Luke. "She called me _ma'am_," she said quietly to him. She turned back and dropped her face in her hands as she started to sob quietly.

The lady continued to apologize. "I'm sorry. I told him to watch where he was going."

"It's okay," she said bringing her head up and sniffing as she managed a wavering smile, "He's a kid, you know? Kids make mistakes." She kindly took the napkins from the woman and started to wipe at her top as she walked out of the door, only one shoe on.

-X-

Rory opened the door and got in the car.

"Oh my god, what is that smell?" She asked plugging her nose.

Lorelai looked over at her with a plastered smile. "That's me," she said happily. "Mommy stepped in a huuuuuge pile of dog poopie," she ended, her smile already gone and frustration showing.

Rory took in her appearance. "You don't look so hot," she said.

"You should have seen me earlier. This is me after going home and changing," she said waving a hand over her tangled hair and slightly wrinkled dress.

"Did you not take that dress to the dry cleaners?" Lorelai nodded. "Then, why is it all--"

"Don't ask, Rory."

"Oh...kay." She said slowly. She released a breath. "Well, not to jinx anything, but so far, so good," she said of her day's luck. "What about you?"

Lorelai sighed and turned up the radio as loud as it'd go as they drove to the Gilmore mansion.

-X-

"Mom, it wasn't that bad," Rory said as they walked into their house late that night.

"Oh, it was_ that _bad and then about twenty-nine more facets of bad."

"Grandma was just wanting to know what happened to your clothes. She was worried about you," Rory said shrugging.

Lorelai shrugged off her jacket. "Yes, I can see how that justifies her comparison of me to a hobo's bimbo," she said sarcastically.

"Well, if you would have just explained to her what you explained to me in the car on the way back, she would have been a little more sympathetic. I mean, your day was just awful."

"You can't explain anything to that woman. I'd have more luck trying to explain the reason why the world needed a _Grease II_. I mean, why couldn't they just leave well-enough alone?" She asked seriously.

Rory laughed. "Well, Mom, I'm sorry your day went like it did. Am I going to have to drive _you_ to work on the next Friday the 13th?"

"Let's just not talk about it, okay? I just want to get a nice cup of coffee so I can go to bed and forget this day ever existed."

"You want a cup of coffee so you go to sleep? How backwards are you?" Rory asked jokingly.

"I'm perfectly aligned. It's the rest of the world that's facing the wrong way," Lorelai stated.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to face that way," Rory said pointing toward her room. "I have an early day tomorrow," she said walking over and planting a kiss on her mom's cheek.

"Now, who's backward? A seventeen year old with an early Saturday? Please."

Rory stuck her tongue out at her before going in her room and closing the door.

-X-

Lorelai came down the stairs after having changed into her PJ's. She headed into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, and her toe stubbed the counter's edge. She grabbed it as she closed her eyes and tried to wish away the pain silently since she didn't want to wake Rory.

Hopping into the living room, she fell to the sofa and looked at it wincingly. "Shoot," she whispered as she tried to move it to make sure it was still functional. It wiggled painfully. "The perfect ending to an even better day," she said quietly.

A knock on the door brought her away from the pain. She stood up and moved toward the door with a slight limp. She opened it to find Luke on the other side.

"Hey," she said looking behind her to the time. "What are you doing here?"

He gave her an apologetic look. "I know it's late. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. You want to come in?" She asked gesturing inside.

"No, I have to get back so I can lock up." He looked down to her foot which she'd been shaking because of the pain. "What's wrong with your foot?"

She looked down at it. "Oh, you know, you take a counter, factor in my toe, throw in a dose of my day's luck, and you've got a recipe for disaster."

"And, here I am thinking you had no skills in the kitchen," he responded still staring worriedly at her toe. "You gonna be alright?" He asked looking up at her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks," she said sincerely.

He held a bag in his hand. She looked from him to the bag. "So, what do you have there?" She asked snapping him back to the reason for his visit.

"Oh," he held it out to her. "I brought this for you." She opened it and saw food and two cups of large coffee. She looked back to him skeptically.

"Luke, you aren't crazy enough to think I'm actually going to drink this, are you?"

"Well, I just might be." He smiled at her telling expression. "I went over to Woodbridge, picked up some regular coffee, and made it at the diner," he finally clarified. "I figured you could probably use it."

Her mouth dropped open. "I can't believe you did that."

"Yeah, just don't tell Taylor. This can't be good for the little war of towns that he has going on."

She looked at him for a moment in awe. "I won't tell him," she finally commented quietly as she looked back into the bag.

"There's enough in there for Rory, too. Be mindful of that," he said, already aware that she could and probably would sit and consume everything.

She laughed. "Thanks, Luke."

"You're welcome," he said. "And before I forget..." He reached into his pocket and removed her shoe. "You left this at the diner earlier." He handed it over to her.

"You fixed it," she said softly, trying hard to see where it had even snapped.

He waved his hand. "It was just a little glue--which by the way, is probably more durable than the whole shoe," he said.

She continued to smile as she looked downward. Luke looked at her bowed head with a smile of his own.

"Okay, well, I have to get back. I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

She looked up at him. "Yeah, I'll see you," she said. She moved close to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before stepping back. "Thanks," she said again.

He gave her a cool half-smile as he tossed her a wave and made his way down the stairs.

Lorelai watched him walk away until he disappeared into the darkness. She stepped inside and closed the door as she released a breath.

She looked down to her toe, smiling wide. "You are not my endiiiiing," she sung happily. She made her way into the kitchen to enjoy her cup of coffee.

**-The End-**

I'm just getting more and more tame, aren't I? I really have to do something about that...(evil smile). Let me know how you feel, what you think, what you know...Two fingers!


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